Assemblies must be transparent and accountable to the people – NCCE

Mrs Judith Adomako-Ofosua, the Mfantseman Municipal Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), has urged Metropolitan Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDSs) to be more transparent and accountable to people.

She said Assemblies must open up to the citizenry and their stakeholders on the processes of developmental projects to erase misconceptions and possible accusations of corruption with their work.

Transparency, accountability and participation, were key tenets of good governance, especially at the local level, where the people were affected directly by government policies, programmes and decisions, she explained.

Mrs Adomako-Ofosua, gave the advice at a town hall meeting organised by the Anomabo Parish Justice for Peace Committee (PJPC) in collaboration with the Municipal Assembly at Anomabo-Taido on Thursday.

Themed, “Community participation in local governance for rapid development”, various speakers at the forum educated the participants on the Assembly’s interventions to speed-up development and in turn, received suggestions and answered questions from the people.

The engagement among others brought together traditional and religious leaders, Assembly members, youth and women groups, professional bodies, media.

Mrs Adomako-Ofosua, said all the necessary information on the execution of any developmental project should be made available to the public, particularly the beneficiary communities right from the onset to ensure transparency and build trust between the public and the Assemblies.

The Assemblies must endeavour to account for every contract awarded so that the citizens know what their taxes were being use for to motivate them to honour their tax obligations.

She observed that lots of people often felt cheated for the lack of provision of the right and quality developmental projects and also did not understand the developmental processes because the Assemblies failed to make information available and accessible to them.

That notwithstanding, she encouraged them to be bold to report people for their corrupt and illicit deeds as part of their constitutionally mandated obligations to protect and safeguard national interest at all times.

“Don’t be intimidated by their political affiliation, financial status or fear of being terrorised and victimised. The NCCE, and it’s allied institutions are ready and determined to protect and reward to encourage and motivate others to emulate it,” she assured.

Mr Samuel Kittah, the Municipal Planning Officer, who represented the Municipal Chief Executive expressed the Assembly’s determined to go the extra mile to significantly improve the infrastructural development in the Municipality.

He outlined some infrastructural projects the Assembly had embarked on, especially; roads and schools and assured that all abandoned projects would be continued.